Kadima not splitting - for now

Kadima's departure from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's national-unity government ended efforts by dovish MKs in the party to split it, legislators involved in the effort said Wednesday.

MKs who supported Tzipi Livni in the March Kadima leadership race tried unsuccessfully to draft the seven MKs necessary to leave the faction and the coalition. While their opinion of Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz has not changed, they said that because the party left the coalition, they would suspend their effort and remain loyal to their party - at least for now.

The MKs said that in the future they could still try to force a new leadership race in Kadima or draft the support of the 15 MKs necessary for a hostile takeover of the party. The efforts could be impacted by the pace of former prime minister Ehud Olmert's Holyland corruption trial as well as the decision-making of another potential future Kadima leader, Tzahi Hanegbi.